The present invention pertains to a novel frying apparatus specifically designed for deep-frying of turkeys, other poultry, or similar sized food items.
Deep-frying of large food items, such as whole turkeys, presents many problems related to the large amount of oil needed to submerge the item, as well as the danger associated with heating large amounts of oil to a high temperature and immersing a large object into the hot oil. Previous attempts to fry turkeys have included using commercial stockpots to heat the oil. Standard size commercial stockpots tend to have a relatively wide diameter in proportion to their height, especially when compared to an upright turkey. A large amount of oil must be heated in the stockpot in order to submerge a turkey (which is preferably fried in an upright position) for frying. The use of standard size stockpots is therefore expensive and wasteful. A stockpot with higher sides and a smaller diameter is available, for example, from Morrone. Although the need for a pot in which to fry turkeys and the like has been met by tall and narrow pots, the prior art has not provided a way to insert and remove a large object, such as a turkey, into the pot.
There have also been attempts to design an apparatus to insert and remove a turkey from a pot of hot oil. Conventional frying baskets generally have one or two handles located near the top edge of a mesh or perforated basket which is placed in the hot oil. These conventional baskets are not appropriate for use in frying turkeys, because they are often not strong enough to support a large turkey (up to 16 pounds), and the handles are close to the hot oil, which is dangerous when there is splattering as the turkey is inserted or removed in addition, frying a turkey requires immersion of the basket in hot oil for an extended amount of time (45-55 minutes for a 15 pound turkey), which will cause the handles to get hot, creating further danger when removing the turkey from the hot oil. Furthermore, frying baskets tend to be quite expensive to manufacture.
Other attempts to insert and remove a turkey have included dropping the turkey into the oil with human hands, which is very dangerous. Also, metal coat hangers have been used to insert and remove the turkey, which also expose the user to the danger of splashing hot oil. These prior attempts also present the danger of oil spilling from the stockpot onto the open flame of the gas cooker, which can cause a fire to break out.
The present invention overcomes these problems with a novel poultry frying apparatus that is described herein.